Reeling apparatus



Aug. l, 1950 o. A. THoMPsoN REELING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril e, 194e FIGB.

Aug- 1, 19.50 o. A. 'rHoMPsoN 2,517,055

REELING APPARATUS Filed April 6. 194e 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvENToR: ORAL A.HoMPsoN Patented Aug. 1, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT `@FFiCi REELINGAPPARATUS Oral A. Thompson, St. Louis, ll/io.

Application April 6, 1945, Serial No. 650,125

(C1. Z.l-42) Claims. 1

This invention relates generally to reeling apparatus and has particularreference to devices of the character wherein a web or tape is unwoundfrom one reel and concurrently wound up on another reel, as, forinstance, in automatically operated scroll maps, which gradually advanceas a vehicle transverses a given route.

In reeling apparatus of the character referred to, it is a familiar factthat a differential in rotational speed must exist between a near emptyreceiving reel and a near full delivering reel; that such differentialchanges continuously throughout the cycle, involving completelyunwinding the tape or web from the lled reel and concurrently winding itup on the other. Many eiiorts have been made to devise apparatus capableof compensating for such differentials in rotational speed, but the usethereof with automatically advancing scroll maps oi the characteraforesaid is diilicult to achieve from the practical standpoint becausesuch known organizations generally involved either a variation in thestrain upon the map-strip over such a wide range of magnitudes that thestrip was liable to rupture, or involved organizations which were notreversible, or involved organizations wherein the driving of the tapewas effected solely through the application of rotational force to oneof the reels.

In view of the fact that such map-strips are generally made of paper, itis evident that, consistent with essential tautness of that portion ofthe strip being viewed from time to time, the actual tension in thestrip can never exceed the tensile strength thereof, else rupture willoccur. Consequently, the spring-controlled devices heretofore proposedfor the purpose have involved the limitation either 0f using extremelyshort strips of map, and hence impractical, or extremely strong, andhence costly, strip material in order to avoid the possibility that, inproceeding between fully wound and fully unwound position on a reel, thetension on the strip will not rupture it.

'Ihe object of the present invention, generally stated, is to provide areeling apparatus wherein the differential in rotational speed betweenthe receiving and the dispensing reels is compensated for in a mannersuch as to minimize variation in tension on the tape or web beingreeled.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thecharacter referred to, which is reversible.

Other objects will become apparent te those skilled in the art when thefollowing description is read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan View of an encased automatically operating scroll mapembodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 2 ci Figure l;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the operating mechanism contained within thecase shown in Figure 1, the web partly broken away;

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken along line ll-il of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5 5 of Figure 4;

Figures 6, 7 and 8, inclusive, are diagrammatic views showing therelation of reels, webs, driving means, and spring compensator atvarious phases in the cycle oi operation from starting position, whereinone reel is fully wound and the other fully unwound, to the positionwhereat the first reel is fully unwound and the second reel is fullywound.

In accordance with the present invention, a traveling web or tape ispayed on one reel and wound upon another reel, while the lineal speed ofthe web is maintained in xed proportional relation to a driving memberengaging the tape intermediate the reels. The invention is characterizedby the feature that the lineal speed of the web is independent of thediameter of the outermost convolution on either reel at any increment oftime and, hence, is free from variations due to the constantly changingeffective circumference of each reeling surface. rEhe inventionespecially contemplates that the difierential between the rotationalspeeds of the paying-out and receiving reels be compensated by a spring,acting on each end of the web, and arranged to unwind during a part ofthe cycle (consisting of completely unreeling a lled reel andconcurrently illling an empty reel) and to wind up in another part ofthe cycle. In the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, thespring is wound up at the beginning of the cycle, winds down to aminimum condition of tension at an intermediate phase of the cycle, andis rewound at the end of the cycle; said spring tending at all times tokeep the web taut.

In the embodiment chosen for illustrative disclosure herein, the reelingapparatus of the present invention is utilized for driving andcontrolling the automatic advancement of a scroll map in accordance withthe travel of a vehicle, such as an automobile, rail vehicle, or thelike, over the route represented by the scroll map. The

vehicle to which the device is applied is provided with a power take-offshaft actuated by the turning of the wheels of the vehicle, as, forexample, in the case of an automobile, provided as usual with aspeedometer, the speedometer shaft may be utilized as the power take-offfor the reeling apparatus of the present invention. Similar mechanismarranged to make a predetermined number of revolutions per revolution ofthe wheel of a railway vehicle is contemplated.

Referring now to the drawings, a driving shaft l connected, asaforesaid, so as to be turned in iixed proportion to the speed at whichthe ve'- hicle is traveling, provides the driving force for themechanism now to be described.

Suitably mounted in an appropriate case 2, having a viewing aperture 3,is a reel Il, which, as shown in Figure 2, is substantially filled withconvolutions of a web 5, the opposite end of which is connected in anysuitable manner to the-core of a reel E. Between reels aid 5, a reach ofweb 5 is guided over a pair of rollers 1 and exposed for View withinaperture 3. fi driving drum 8 is also provided for engagement with thereach of web l5, intermediate reels l and 6, and a suitablespring-biased arrangement of pressure rolls 9 may be provided forholding the web 5 in firm engagement with the surface of drum 8. ln lieuof the latter, rows of perforations may be provided in web 5 forengagement with lpins projecting from the surface of drum 3 in a mannerwell-known in the art of progressively feeding tapes. It is alsocontemplated, but not shown on the drawings, that reels il and 5 bereadily removable from case 2 to facilitate the installation of web 5.

At the outer end of shaft I, a reversing mechanism I is provided. Thereversing mechanism may be of any suitable well-known character adaptedfor selective connection between shaft l and the power shaft l! (gearedto the speedometer shaft) so as to cause the latter to rotate in thesame direction as, or opposite direction from,

shaftV I, as desired. Shaft I is provided with a worm I2 in engagementwith a worm wheel i3 secured to a shaft I4, upon which driving drinn 8is also secured for rotation therewith.

With web installed, as described, it is apparent that a clockwiserotation of driving drum 3 will unreel web 5 from reel 4 and direct ittoward reel 6.

In order to drive the reel, which is receiving the web, a lpinion I6 xedto shaft I1 of reel t is meshed witha gear I8 rotatably mounted upon ahanged collar I9. While the gear I8 is adinstable' relative to flangedcollar I9, said parts are interlocked when in operating position, by aspring detent' 20 fitting into any one of a series of recessions 2|provided in gear IB. Collar I9 is mounted upon a stub-shaft 22 for freerotation thereon, thet shaft 22 being secured to the wall of the case 2.Likewise mounted for free rotation on stub-shaft 22 is a gear 23. VGear23 is premanently" connected to collar I9 through the medium of aconvolutedv spring 24, said spring being fastened to gear 23 by a pin 25at the outer end thereof and to collar t9 by a pin 26 at the inner endthereof. Meshing with gear 23 is a pinion 21 secured to shaft 23 uponwhich reel 6 is flxedly mounted.

With this arrangement of parts it is apparent that if convoluted-spring24 be put in tension, i. e., wound up, that the contained force will actagainst each end of the spring in a direction to cause it to unwind. Pin25, gear 23, and

pinion 2l cooperate to transmit such force to reel 6 while pin 26,collar i9, spring detent 28, gear i8 and pinion i6 transmit such forceto reel il. From this it follows that if a spring detent 2@ isdisengaged from its recess 2l in gear i8 and rotated in acounter-clockwise direction, spring 2li will be wound up. Thuspretensioned, spring 2l will move to unwind, urging gear l23 clockwise,and reel 6, through `pinion 2l counterclockwise, and in a direction suchas to wind in all slack in attached web 5. Reengaging spring detent 28in a recess 2l in gear i3 transmits a similar counter-clockwise force toreel i through gear I3 and pinion I6. When drum 8 is being driven in adirection such as to draw web i5 from reel 2 the tension applied to theweb by reel d will be counter to the pull of the drum 8, whereas in thereach of web between drum 8 and reel t tension will be maintained solelyby the ipowering force of convoluted spring 22. This dual function ofserving as a brake against driving drum Si and as a positive force fordriving reel 5 is an important feature of spring 2li and may be betterunderstood with reference to Figures 6, '7 and 8, whichdiagrammaticaliyl illustrate a cycle of operation of the apparatus.

Referring now to Figure 6, a starting position is shown, wherein reel ilcarries all of the convolutions of the web save that portion threadedthrough the apparatus and fastened to reel 6. When drum 8 is rotated inthe clockwise direction, as shown by the arrow, web 5 is drawn from reelIl against the resistance of spring 2li applied through collar ifi, geariii and pinion it (arrows, Figure 2). Reel powered by spring 24 (through'pin 25, gear 23 and pinion 2l) reels in the delivered web. In thisphase of the cycle it will be noted that the inner end of spring 24, ingeared connection with reel fl, is forced to move counterclockwise,slowly, so as to wind spring 24%. Rotation at this point, however, isnot sufcient to counterbalance the unwinding of spring 24, necessitatedby the more rapid rotation of reel (i whose web-convoluted diameter isless than that of reel il. Spring 2d continues to lose tension so longas the convoluted diameter of reel 4 eX- ceeds that of the convoluteddiameter of reel 6.

Figure 7 illustrates the point in the cycle wherein reel l and reel itcarry an identical number of convolutions of web 5, and hence, aremoving'at the same peripheral rate. This condition of balance isreflected in spring 24 which now has its minimum tension and has its twofixed ends moving counter to one another to wind and to unwind thespring at the same rate.

From this point on, however, until the last of the web has beendelivered to reel 6 (Figure 8), reel E travels at a progressively slowerperipheral rate than does reel A since the convoluted diameters are nowin inverse relationship to that existing in the rst half of the cycle.Here, the condition exists where the inner end of spring 24, geared toreel li, moves in response to the pull of drum 8, faster than doestheouter end geared to reel 6.

Tension is thereby restored to spring 24 until, at the completion of thecycle or end of the route, spring 2li has repossessed the containedforce originally imparted by the pretensioning operation.

The action of this apparatus is truly reversible. If the starting pointwere as shown in Figure 8, and the direction of rotation of drum 8reversed, as would be the case with a railroad car shunted at the end ofthe route and carried back along the same track without turning around,the driving drum 8 would deliver the web from reel 0 to reel 4 andspring 24 would progressively equate the diierences in the peripheralrates of the reels and would repeat the cycle of losing and regainingtension until reel i once again contained all of the convolutions of theweb.

Webs installed in this device are properly inscribed with datadescriptive of a particular route. It is contemplated that the reels beinterchangeable in a manner well-known in the art. When installed ashereinbefore described, suicient web is threaded through the instrumentfrom the delivery reel to the receiving reel to secure the free end andto properly position the indicia representing the beginning of the routein the viewing aperture. Pretensicning of convoluted spring 24 andengagement of clutch I0 with the motivating source of power, aspreviously described, puts the instrument in full operation.

It is understood that the embodiment oi the invention described hereinlends itself to considerable modification and may be installed in avariety oi conveyances including those which are not limited to a fixedroute. instrument is associated with an automobile or similar vehicle itis possible to record a trip with reference to instant speedometerreadings. A simple reversal of the reels upon the return journey willpresent the recorded log to the observer and preclude misdirection.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

l. A reeling device i the character described comprising, a dell reel, areceiving reel, a web convoluted upon both reels and having anintermediate reach between said reels, means engaging said web at theintermediate reach for drawing the same rom the delivery reel, powertransmitting connection between said delivery reel and said receivingreel for rotating the latter, said connection including a resilientmember having a neutral position from which it yields to permit thedelivery reel to lag and to lead the rotational speed or the receivingreel as the diameter of the outermost convolution of each reel varies inthe unwinding and winding of the web.

2. A reeling device oi the character described comprising, a web, adelivery reel for the web, a receiving reel, rotatable means for drivingthe web at a lineal speed in fixed proportion to the driving means,power transmitting connection between said delivery reel and thereceiving reel, said connection including an adjustable resilient memberhaving a neutral position from which it yields to permit the reel to lagand to lead the receiving reel as the peripheral speed of each reelvaries in the unwinding and Winding of the web respectively.

3. A reeling device of the character described Where use of thecomprising, a delivery reel, a similar receiving reel, a web convolutedupon both reels and having an intermediate reach between said reels,means engaging said web at the intermediate reach for drawing the samefrom the delivery reel, power transmitting connection between saiddelivery reel and said receiving reel for rotating the latter, saidconnection including a resilient member having a maximum condition oftension when either reel has all of the convolutions oi the web woundupon it, and a minimum condition of tension when the convolutions of theweb upon each reel are identical.

e. A reeling device of the character described comprising, a deliveryreel, a similar receiving reel, a web convoluted upon both reels andhaving an intermediate reach between said reels, means engaging said webat theI intermediate reach for drawing the same from the delivery reel,power transmitting connection between said delivery reel and saidreceiving reel ior rotating the latter, said connection including aconvoluted spring, one end of Which moves to wind said spring, whereasthe other end moves to drive said receiving reel, the tension in saidspring varyu ing between a maximum when either reel contains all of theconvolutions of said web and a minimum when each reel contains the samenumber oi convolutions of said web and means for adjusting said maximumtension in said spring to continuously drive said receiving reel at allvariations in tension from said maximum to said minimum.

5. Apparatus of the character described comprising, two rotatable shaftseach respectively mounting a web reel, pinions ixed on each or saidshafts so as to rotate at all times with the reel mounted thereon, apair of coaxial gears rotatable independently of each other and meshedrespectively with said pinions, a single coil spring having its oppositeends connected to said coaxial gears, respectively, a drum, a reach ofweb eX- tending between said reels and irictionally engaging the surfaceof said drum, and externally powered means for rotating said drum totransfer web from one reel to the other, said means being connected toimpart rotating force to a reel only through draft upon the web.

ORAL A. THOMPSON.

The foilowing references are of record in the

